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USSA SANCTIONS THE HONDA SKI TOUR
U.S. SKI AND SNOWBOARD ASSOCIATION (USSA) TO
SANCTION THE HONDA SKI TOUR SKI CROSS SERIES; OFFICIALS TO OVERSEE RULES AND
COURSE APPROVAL
The Honda Ski Tour Launches Inaugural Event at Sun Valley, ID, JAN
11-15, 2007, attracting one of the strongest ski cross fields ever assembled
Sun Valley, ID,
January 7, 2007—The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), the national
governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding, will be officially
calendaring The Honda Ski Tour (THST) 2007 as a sanctioned USSA ski cross event.
USSA's sanction requires the event to be run according to USSA rules, which
mirror FIS International rules, under the direction of an approved competition
jury and officials.
THST is North America's new elite, four-stop mountain
festival and skiing competition that features the world's best halfpipe and ski
cross skiers competing for $500,000. Tour stops are Sun Valley, ID, Breckenridge,
CO, Aspen/Snowmass, CO, and Squaw Valley USA, CA.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved the
addition of ski cross for the 2010 Winter Olympics, in a meeting in Kuwait City
on Nov. 28. Snowboardcross made its first Olympic appearance at the 2006 Winter
Games in Torino and drew big crowds and excellent television ratings. Ski cross
has quickly become popular around the world and is gaining momentum.
"The Ski Tour is a very high profile series in the newest
Olympic event of ski cross and we applaud Tour organizers for taking steps to
manage the series to international standards," said USSA Chief Operating
Officer Dick Coe. "It's important with such a high level series that it follows
the same international standards as the World Cup, World Championships and
ultimately the Olympics. That standard will be very important for elite
athletes as the sport grows in popularity over the next few years."
USSA sanctions and calendars over 3,000 U.S. competitions
each season. Sanctioned events, including The Honda Ski Tour, are required to
be run according to USSA rules, which mirror the FIS International Competition
Rules (ICR), including homologation or approval of the courses to meet
international standards. In addition, USSA will appoint a technical delegate to
oversee the competition, as well as a competition jury and other key competition
officials. Participating athletes must be current members of USSA.
"We are thrilled by the USSA's decision to sanction our ski
cross events," said THST President Steve Brown. "This essentially makes The
Honda Ski Tour the proving ground for our future Olympic ski cross athletes.
This is a great development for The Honda Ski Tour."
Athletes confirmed for THST ski cross competition include X
Games gold medalists Enak Gavaggio, Casey Puckett, Shaun Palmer, Lars Lewen,
Zach Crist and two-time World Cup ski cross champion Tomas Kraus. Fresh from
his World Cup retirement is World Champion and 13-time World Cup winner Daron
Rahlves, who also has victories at the famed Hahnenkam at Kitzbuhel and the
Lauberhorn in Wengen, making this one of the most impressive competitive ski
cross fields ever assembled.
Ski Cross athlete
lineup for THST Sun Valley
Zach Crist
Justin Glick
Lars Lewen
Cody Smith
Iezza Massimiliano
Stanley Hayer
Markus Wittner
Tomas Kraus
Roman Hofer
Enak Gavaggio
Kyle Sul
Chris DelBosco
Casey Puckett
Davey Barr
Daron Rahlves
Clic Bloomfield
Jake Fiala
Shaun Palmer
Eric Archer
Travis Svensrud
Christian Questad
Tyler Williams
Tahir Basic
David Lamb
Jamey Parks
Chip Knight
Brian Long
Matt Murphy
Nathan Schwing
Rob Webb
Griffin Post
Ryan Dean
Christian Wartusch
Olin Glenne
Rick Greener
Luca Cattaneo
The Honda Ski Tour
Schedule
Stop 1: January 11-15, Sun Valley, Idaho
Stop 2: February 1-4, Breckenridge, Colorado
Stop 3: February 22-25, Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado
Stop 4: March 8-11, Squaw Valley USA, California
Four hours of network
television is scheduled on ABC for THST:
Event date: January 11-14, Sun Valley, Idaho
ABC airdate/times: Saturday, January 20, 4pm PST / 5pm MST /
2pm EST
Event date: February 1-4, Breckenridge, Colorado
ABC airdate/times: Saturday, February 10, 4pm PST / 5pm MST
/ 2pm EST
Event date: February 22-25, Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado
ABC airdate/times: Sunday, March 11, 11am PST / 12pm MST /
2pm EST
Event date: March 8-11, Squaw Valley USA, California
ABC airdate/times: Sunday, March 25, 11am PST / 12 pm MST /
2pm EST
For more information
please visit www.theskitour.com
Media Inquiries and
for more information contact:
Director of Marketing, PR, & Communications
Keith Carlsen
Mountain Sports International
keith@mtsports.com
801-349-4632